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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “sea”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “sea”, we and wp.org disagree on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 4 plugins are pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether it throws errors on current PHP, whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

Envíos Coordinadora Woocommerce (Oficial) – WordPress plugin shows at wp.org #5 but places #14 on merit, a gap of 9 places. Its 600+ installs carry it up the search order; its 2.5★ average from 4 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

Colibri Page Builder places #5 on merit, 4.4★ from 80 reviews, but shows at wp.org #13. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Australia Post WooCommerce Extension 3K+ · 4.4★ (19) wp.org #2 1 too low 2 Snow Monkey Blocks 30K+ · 4.4★ (7) wp.org #1 1 too high 3 WP Directory Kit 2K+ · 4.9★ (35) wp.org #4 1 too low 4 Ventus – Weather Map Widget & Shortcode 3K+ · 4.9★ (13) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 Colibri Page Builder 80K+ · 4.4★ (80) wp.org #13 ↓3 8 too low 6 Tides Today UK and Ireland tide times 100+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #3 3 too high 7 Spexo Addons for Elementor – Elementor Widgets, Mega Menu, Popup Builder, Template Kits and Starter Templates for Elementor 6K+ · 4.8★ (4) wp.org #9 2 too low 8 MMWW 200+ · 4.5★ (11) wp.org #20 ↑1 12 too low 9 KolorWeb Access Admin Notification: extreme rescue for unauthorized admin logins 70+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #7 2 too high 10 CelerSearch – AI-Powered Instant Search with Meilisearch 30+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #8 ↑3 2 too high 11 Live Sea Temperature Widget by SeaTempMap — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #10 ↑3 1 too high 12 Verse of the Day Widget for WP 30+ · 5.0★ (2) wp.org #17 ↑3 5 too low 13 Small Package Quotes – Unishippers Edition 50+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #11 ↑1 2 too high 14 Envíos Coordinadora Woocommerce (Oficial) – WordPress plugin 600+ · 2.5★ (4) wp.org #5 ↑1 9 too high 15 Marketplace Integration for Shopee & Lazada 60+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #14 ↑1 1 too high 16 Dynamic Post – AI Content – White Paper – Peer Review – Tax & Accounting Sites 100+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #12 ↑2 4 too high 17 SEO Author Organization Schema — · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #16 ↑2 1 too high 18 Small Package Quotes – USPS Edition 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #22 4 too low 19 Envíopack (Argentina) 100+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #15 ↑1 4 too high 20 King Addons for Elementor – 100+ Elementor Widgets, 4 000+ Elementor Templates, WooCommerce Builder, Mega Menu, Popup Builder 10K+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #19 ↓11 1 too high 21 SeaFishingCharters Calendar — · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #23 2 too low 22 Approve Orders for WooCommerce 10+ · 5.0★ (1) wp.org #18 ↑1 4 too high 23 CBM Calculator 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #21 ↓4 2 too high 24 Envíopack (México) 10+ · 0.0★ (0) wp.org #24

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 1M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted Bayesian score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.